Running 64bit apps on 32bit system

[ExalyThor]

First of all, I know that Windows XP and 32bit systems in general are obsolete, but I'm trying to add unofficial support for r9 280, 290 and rx 300 series to Windows XP. Asking why I do this is irrelevant, but some of the reasons are: Nostalgia, lots of free time and making people like me who don't have the time to do this happy!... But back to the main question: Is it possible somehow to modify the driver to work with 32bit XP or I need the 64bit version? (I'm trying to avoid the 64bit version because it has some compatibility issues with older games, which would kinda defeat the purpose of this project all togheter)

[limegorilla]

No - your trying to make somthing that - in your system - isnt even there work. 64bit is as much hardware as it is software.

[ExalyThor]

Just now, limegorilla said:

No - your trying to make somthing that - in your system - isnt even there work. 64bit is as much hardware as it is software.

I own an r9 290 so I have something to work with...

[dionkoffie]

what are the system specs that you're using? 64 bit programs won't run on a 32 bit cpu. 

[limegorilla]

2 minutes ago, TheSponyX said:

I own an r9 290 so I have something to work with...

It's not your GPU - its the CPU that is the issue. If its a 32bit CPU - no hope. And you also need 4GB of ram but that's not strictly needed

[ExalyThor]

Just now, dionkoffie said:

what are the system specs that you're using? 64 bit programs won't run on a 32 bit cpu. 

I thought it's obvious when I said that I own an r9 290 that I have a 64bit compatible system but ok: i5 2500k, Z68 motherboard, compatible ram, and the other parts are irrelevant

[dionkoffie]

4 minutes ago, TheSponyX said:

I thought it's obvious when I said that I own an r9 290 that I have a 64bit compatible system but ok: i5 2500k, Z68 motherboard, compatible ram, and the other parts are irrelevant

Why bother with Windows XP 32 bit on 64 bit hardware? Just install the Win XP 64 bit version. 

 

Trying to install/make 64 bit drivers for a 32 bit system is something only the manufacturer can do. 

Are you sure there is no x86 driver for the 290? the R9 series should be old enough to have those. 

[Radium_Angel]

This cane be done, if you have access to the Windows XP source code. You can then take the source code from the 64bit version, write a "wrapper" around the parts you need, streamline it into the 32 bit version and away you go.

 

Good luck finding the source code however.

[limegorilla]

Agreeing with @dionkoffie - if you (for some reason) wont 64bit applications working on 32bit hardware you'll have to technically rewrite CPU drivers - and other stuff. It would be redesigning Windows from the ground up - if Microsoft won't do it for the brand new Snapdragon powered computers then it won't work.

[ExalyThor]

1 minute ago, limegorilla said:

Agreeing with @dionkoffie - if you (for some reason) wont 64bit applications working on 32bit hardware you'll have to technically rewrite CPU drivers - and other stuff. It would be redesigning Windows from the ground up - if Microsoft won't do it for the brand new Snapdragon powered computers then it won't work.

You know how to write but not how to read? I already said that I own a Z68 system

[ExalyThor]

Guys we are pc enthusiast on this forum, none would pair an r9 290 with something that old that it wont even support 64 bit oses

[Lurick]

You should be able to just grab the 32-Bit Vista drivers from AMD, those might work.

[ExalyThor]

Just now, Lurick said:

You should be able to just grab the 32-Bit Vista drivers from AMD, those might work.

Good idea, I will try them a bit later but I'd like to make the Fury series work as well. Beside Fiji, which is another animal to deal with, all 300 series graphics cards are just refreshes from the 200 series, and the vista 32bit driver 13.12 supports them all, so with just a bit of work I can make them work. I think I'll leave Fury series alone for now, at least until I own one because I don't want to overpay for it in the current GPU market.

[GoodBytes]

1 hour ago, TheSponyX said:

First of all, I know that Windows XP and 32bit systems in general are obsolete, but I'm trying to add unofficial support for r9 280, 290 and rx 300 series to Windows XP. Asking why I do this is irrelevant, but some of the reasons are: Nostalgia, lots of free time and making people like me who don't have the time to do this happy!... But back to the main question: Is it possible somehow to modify the driver to work with 32bit XP or I need the 64bit version? (I'm trying to avoid the 64bit version because it has some compatibility issues with older games, which would kinda defeat the purpose of this project all togheter)

You'll need to decompile the 64-bit version of the drivers, modify of the drivers to reflect the lack of 64-bit specific features, and recode the drivers for XP OS, then recompile and repackage it. The good news in all of this, is that digital signature is not required. The bad news is that you may need heavy knowledge of the architecture of the hardware, you'll definitely need strong knowledge on driver development under Windows, and you'll definitely need to have strong knowledge of decompiling code, and know how to work with it. Deep knowledge of assembly language of x86-64 architecture might be needed.

 

So, yes, it is possible. But you are better off your luck with 32-bit Vista drivers as Lurick suggested.

If those don't work, try and get early ones of when Vista was released. MS keep backward compatibility, and you may be lucky enough that the drivers still follows the XP model at that stage. You'll need to install the drivers via Device Manager. Using the setup will most likely not work, as it checks for the OS.

 

 

[ExalyThor]

2 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

You'll need to decompile the 64-bit version of the drivers, modify of the drivers to reflect the lack of 64-bit specific features, and recode the drivers for XP OS, then recompile and repackage it. The good news in all of this, is that digital signature is not required. The bad news is that you may need heavy knowledge of the architecture of the hardware, you'll definitely need string knowledge on driver development under Windows, and you'll definitely need to have string knowledge of decompiling code, and know how to work with it. Deep knowledge of assembly language of x86-64 architecture might be needed.

 

So, yes, it is possible. But you are better off your luck with 32-bit Vista drivers as Lurick suggested.

If those don't work, try and get early ones.

You'll need to install the drivers via Device Manager. Using the setup will most likely not work, as it checks for the OS.

 

 

Thanks for the advanced tips! I will try my best to do this. After this is done I really should spend some time with my friends as well

[LogicalDrm]

4 hours ago, dionkoffie said:

Why bother with Windows XP 32 bit on 64 bit hardware? Just install the Win XP 64 bit version.

Only someone who doesn't know why 64bit XP is joke makes statement like that. 64bit XP was extremely rare thing and has really bad support even on its own generation hardware. Not to mention current hardware.